


Alliances

by Rogue of Heart (Akumeoi)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternia, F/M, Gangs, Gen, Homelessness, Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-11
Updated: 2012-09-05
Packaged: 2018-02-10 16:17:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2031612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akumeoi/pseuds/Rogue%20of%20Heart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Pounce de Leijon dies, Nepeta is kicked out of her hive and forced to roam the streets. When she becomes a target for the notorious Gamzee Makara and his villainous gang, the only way she can survive is with a little help from her friends...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Alone on Alternia

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Safe and Sound](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/64053) by Kristin Smith (Twilight-Princess333). 



_My lusus is dead, and I am alone._

The thought bounced around Nepeta's mind as soon as she woke up in the morning. It would plague her all day, as it had for seven – or was it eight? – days now. She did not feel the hard wooden slats of the bench her numb hip was pressed into, or the griminess of her hair, flattened under her neck by her coat, which she'd been using as a pillow.

She was literally "on the park bench," as it were, because when a troll's lusus dies, she is thrown out to starve.

Can't let a parentless troll run around causing trouble, you see. She's underage, so we'd have to put her in an orphanage, and those cost a lot of money to run. Too much money. Money that could be better spent on the war. Nepeta was 7 sweeps old – not very underage, but underage enough.

Better to just let natural selection take care of her.

Nepeta had been in the park, Pounce's favourite place in the sprawling city that was their home, since she'd been thrown out by a police drone. It had seemed like the only logical place to go at the time. Now, with her belly growling with hunger, she realised she would have to go somewhere else before she did die. She'd put all the food she could carry in her sylladex, but that was all gone now.

Like Pounce.

Needless to say, she didn't want to go anywhere that reminded her of her lost lusus. Her friends had all abandoned her when Pounce died, or she would have been staying with one of them that very minute. They didn't want to harbour someone who was supposed to be dead; that was just asking for trouble. Nepeta didn't want to run into any of them, either.

She walked to the farthest end of the park and into the bowels of the unfamiliar east side of the city.

The streets around the park were similar to the ones Nepeta had walked own all her life. Neat, tidy rowhives with flowerbeds in front lined the streets, many of them proudly waving flags with a stripe the colour of the troll occupant's blood emblazoned down the middle. The few trolls she saw seemed cheerful at best and calm at worst. Nepeta hurried on, head down, aware that she looked a mess, and unwilling to answer any questions that might be asked her.

She didn't know how she would pay for food, even if there were any. She vaguely supposed she would have to steal it or something, being literally destitute and all. Her legs were starting to get weak and shaky from the constant walking, so it was unlikely she'd be able to run away if she were caught. She wondered if there was food in prison. Or did they just cull thieves nowadays?

Around noon, she finally found herself leaving the residential area. She had a feeling she'd been walking through the same neighbourhood for a long time, but now there were a few restaurants, and there, a convenience store. But she couldn't help noticing that the sidewalk wasn't so tidy anymore. There were several hundred black chewing-gum splats on the street corner in front of her, and the street-sign was missing its top screw, hanging upside down. On the back of it was a graffitied with a couple of tags. A plastic bag wrapped around the lamppost flicked back and forth.

The guy waiting to cross the street on the other side didn't look so happy.

 _This isn't so bad_ , Nepeta thought. _Just try not to take any wrong turns, and you'll be fine_.

She wondered if she should stop at that convenience store to ask for directions or something, just so she knew which way _not_ to go. But the sign in the window said 'Closed,' or at least it tried to. It really said Cosed because the l was broken.

There was someone scowling at her through the blinds on the glass door.

Wrong turn? Haha, okay, so maybe this was bad. Making the second conscious decision of the day and deciding to get the hell out of there fast, Nepeta spun around and went the opposite direction of the guy crossing the street, whose light had just changed. She still didn't know where she was going, but getting away from the guy looking through the blinds of the Cosed store was a great start.

She was beginning to get a bit of a headache. She decided that as soon as she found somewhere safe enough, she would take a quick rest. She made it another mile to a semi-decent looking neighbourhood – there were some flowered windowboxes, although the flowers all had one root in the grave – and plopped down on the steps of a house with no car parked in front of it. She would have stayed only a few minutes except that she was asleep in seconds.

 

♦♦♦

 

When Nepeta awoke with the blood all rushing to head at once, she didn't at first understand where she was, not remembering that she had left the park that morning. Then she felt as if she were moving, and realised that she was slung across someone's shoulders with her arms and pinned to his front.

Her first instinct was to scream bloody murder. Then she remembered that Pounce was gone, so it probably didn't matter if this guy hauled her off somewhere and murdered her. Might be a shorter route to happiness than a long struggle to live. She wasn't sure if she believed in heaven or anything, but she was sure that she missed her cat-mom too much to bear.

_Pounce, should I...?_

Pounce would want her to go free.

She slid her claws out and awkwardly bent her elbow, digging the tips into the troll's stomach.

"Put me down, or I'll give you a good look at your own spleen," she rasped. Ow, her throat was really dry.

"Stop your foolish behoofior at once!" the man said. "We are being followed, cat girl."

"Put. Me. Down," she said, trying to snarl, and had to swallow hard.

"I doubt you would find the company of those ruffians any more pleasing than mine," the blue blood replied stonily. From this strange angle, dangling over his highly muscular chest, she could see his arrow-shaped sign was blue. He had slightly oily, shoulder-length hair that was brushing against her face annoyingly, and if she craned her neck the only glimpse she could get of his face was a stonily set, scowling mouth below cracked black glasses. Boy, was she in trouble.

"Hey, Zahhak, what kind of a prize do you have there?" someone behind them called rowdily.

"None of your business," the troll carrying Nepeta – Zahhak, she supposed – bellowed back.

"Put those claws away, now," he hissed to Nepeta, unconsciously tightening his grip on her ever so slightly. She felt powerful muscles squeeze her arm and realised it was either that or have her arm crushed.

She knew which she preferred. Her blades slid back without even a whisper.

She was trapped. _Sorry, Pounce, I tried my best._

"If it's alive, female, and in my city, it's my business, bro," another troll answered. How many people were following them?

The blue-blooded troll made no attempt to reply, instead addressing Nepeta. "We have not been properly acquainted, cat girl," he said, as if this were a social call, not a kidnapping. "I am Equius."

Nepeta wondered why he felt the need to tell her that. She hoped he and the people behind them would just kill each other so she could get out of the gogforsaken city alive, seeing as escaping hadn't worked out so well.

"Why'n't you hand that piece over nicely, and we won't have to break your head?"

Equius began to sweat noticeably, and Nepeta wondered if he were afraid. But his lips were twisted into a snarl, so he must have been angry instead. Their pursuers' footsteps were audible now, echoing off the sidewalks of the lonely concrete maze.

It was almost time for the street lamps to come on. They turned onto a sidestreet.

"When I put you down, I want you to run up the fire escape of the building with the orange door, and stay at the top. It's the safest place," Equius said quietly. "Do you understand?"

"Yes," Nepeta said, planning to simply run the other way as soon as she was released. Whatever this asshole wanted out of her, he wasn't going to get it. And those other trolls weren't, either.

At the end of the street, in front of a defunct liquor store with crates piled in front of it, Nepeta was finally set down. She staggered to her feet and looked wildly around, but the moment of opportunity she'd had to pass the three pursuing trolls was gone, and the road was a dead end. She had no choice but to go up the fire escape as instructed.

_Gog damn it._

Equius began talking to the other trolls, but Nepeta was focused on escape. She tried the handle of the door on the first floor of the fire escape, but it was chained shut. Up the second floor she went, where the railing had rusted away on one side and there was a yawning drop down to the street below. There were a few bricks and a long-hardened bucket o cement up there, from a project evidently abandoned long ago. She would have tried to pick the lock with her claws, but that's when the shouting begin.

"I will not have you prostitute the breeding stock of this entire city!" Equius said. "What's more, I found the cat girl first. She's mine."

"We've been watching her the entire day," a yellow-blooded female replied. "Makara wants her special on account a that hat."

"Give her here," said a brown-blood with huge bull horns.

"Makara is not fit for the colour of his blood. It's unseemly the way that high-class trash carries on."

"Don't fucking say that!" snapped the teal-blood.

He threw a punch at those already-cracked glasses, and Nepeta flinched in spite of herself. Equius blocked it with his arm, and the teal blood howled.

"I rank all of you. Leave. Now," Equius said forcefully. He was really sweating now.

"Make us."

The teal blood pushed him backwards into one of the crates, and he stumbled. Off balance, he couldn't stop a second punch into his stomach. But he grabbed the hand of the teal blood and pulled him forward. Jabbing the troll in the stomach, he regained his balance just as the yellow-blooded female leaped onto him. The teal-blood fell to the ground and Equius was flung sprawling against the building. The big-horned troll punched him twice before Equius freed himself from the yellow-blood and broke her arm.

The yellow-blood yelled in pain and staggered out of the way. The teal-blood, on his feet again, thrust her away as she fled the alley.

Nepeta didn't know whose side she was on, but it sure wasn't Equius's attackers'. She grabbed one of the bricks next to her and dropped it straight down onto the teal blood's head. He pitched forward and lay still on the ground below, blood coming out of his nose. Hearing the thud of his friend's body hitting the ground, the big-horned troll turned to see what had happened, and Equius knocked him out, splitting his cheek open along the way.

Tri-coloured blood splattered the alley. The fight was over.

Equius took a moment to adjust his glasses, then climbed the first flight of stairs. Nepeta gulped as she remembered she was trapped.

"Come on, let's go!" Equius said urgently.

"Go away," Nepeta said, sliding out her claws. She didn't plan on being picked up and carted off anywhere.

"That troll is fetching Gamzee, we don't have time for this," Equius muttered, and started up the stairs.

Nepeta shakily drew herself up. "I said, go away."

"Do you know what they'll do to you if they catch you? I won't hurt you! If you have a death wish, so be it, but I STRONGLY suspect you do not. Now stop this nonsense."

Nepeta slowly nodded, and felt dizzy for a moment. This momentary lapse would have been fine had she not stepped back off the fire escape and onto two solid stories of thin air.

Her arms pinwheeled for a moment as she tried to latch onto something. Equius lunged forward and grabbed her wrist so tightly her hand went numb. He yanked her towards him and she collapsed back onto the rusted metal.

"Are you okay?" Equius said.

"Yes," Nepeta said. Her heart was pounding.

"I'm sorry for your wrist."

He was apologizing for saving her life, even if he had bruised her a little in the process. Nepeta felt suddenly that she could trust this strange troll. She tried to stand and felt dizzy again. She slid her claws back in.

"Purrlease, get me out of here," she said, and there was more vulnerability in her voice than she would have liked. Equius scooped her up gently, and this time let her settle herself into a comfortable piggy-back.

"You never told me your name," he said.

"I'm Nepeta," Nepeta said as Equius started quickly down the fire escape.

"Pleased to meet you," Equius said. Neither of them said anything more as he hustled through the ever-darkening city.

♦♦♦

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to clear a few things up...  
> -I know it's pretty hard to imagine Tavros as a badass gangster, but i was imagining that in this AU he'd never been paralyzed by Vriska and so had vastly more self-confidence. He's also sober!Gamzee's matesprit (although that's all off-screen, which is why I didn't put it in the list of ships), and I'm sure sober!Gamzee would have given him some more fighting spirit. I was also thinking of the summoner, and I know that's not the same person as Tavros, but for the purposes of this story it's close enough.  
> -The other 2 unnamed trolls are bit characters, oc's. Don't worry about them. They don't do anything else.  
> -The setting is no-SGRUB Alternia, in which all the trolls are herded into cities because there's not much room left elsewhere. The government is essentially the landlord of the entire city, but the kids run all the businesses and whatnot. there are no cars, except fur the ones owned by the peacekeeping force, which is partly comprised of adults.


	2. Home in a Hive

As the lights of the safer half of the city grew stronger, Nepeta shifted restlessly, wanting to get down.

"Stop that. I am not letting you go until I have delivered you to somewhere safe, preferably somewhere with police drones within calling distance. Where do you want to go?"

"Just take me to the park, purrlease," Nepeta said. They passed a fast-food restaurant and her stomach growled.

"You're living in the park?" Equius said, sounding outraged. "How unseemly! Where is your lusus?"

"She... she's gone. She died," Nepeta admitted miserably. She sniffed. Equius said nothing.

He kept walking for a moment, then stopped suddenly, turned around, and went down Longhorn Alley.

"Wait, wait, wait, where are we going?" Nepeta said.

"I will not have you starve in a gutter. I have a feeling you would not appreciate the thought of coming to my hive, so I am depositing you with a friend, whose home I am sure you will find most acceptable," Equius said.

"Who?" Nepeta pressed.

"Aradia Megido," Equius said shortly. Nepeta didn't know who that was.

"Oh – okay," she said. But she really couldn't afford not to take this charity.

_Oh, Pounce, what should I do?_

But Pounce was gone, at a poisoned pigeon (hah! That's a lie, we all know about those subjuggulators, but that's what the autopsy said), there's nothing anyone could do, oh –

Just as Nepeta thought she would yowl her loneliness and exhaustion to the world, Equius stopped in front of a white rowhive with a red roof and rang the doorbell delicately, careful not to press it too far in and break it. He stepped back onto the sidewalk, and Nepeta anxiously tightened her hands on his shoulders as the door swung open.

A pretty rustblood with big burgundy eyes, long lashes, and a mess of tumbling black curls opened the door. She was wearing a black tunic and loose pants, perhaps her pyjamas. She saw who her visitor was and her lips curved up into a smile.

"Equius!" she said. "What a surprise!"

Nepeta peered out from behind him, and Aradia noticed. She quickly spoke again before Equius could reply.

"Who's this? She looks a mess, poor thing."

"This is Nepeta. I had to fight Nitram, Vitali, and some yellow blood for her by the old liquor store, you know the one."

"So Gamzee wants her?" Aradia said, concerned.

"Yes, and her lusus is gone."

Understanding flickered in Aradia's eyes as pain did in Nepeta's.

"Are you going to stay with me, then?" Aradia asked Nepeta, who nodded shyly. Equius gently lowered her to the ground. She stumbled up the steps and Aradia stood aside to let her through the doorway.

"You may have to bandage her wrist," Equius said.

"Oh, dear," Aradia said. "Don't worry, I'll take care of her."

"Thanks."

Equius hurriedly whispered something to her, and she nodded again. They hugged, and Aradia kissed Equius on the cheek. Then she shut the door and turned to the still-silent watcher behind her.

Seeing Nepeta's questioning look, she said, "He's my matesprit." She self-consciously smoothed the front of her tunic.

_Well, that explains that, huh Pounce? They seem to be good together, don't you think?_

"Anyway, are you hungry?"

"Yes!" Nepeta said emphatically. Aradia laughed and led her to a kitchen, where she pulled out a chair from her and rummaged in the fridge.

"Do you like grub sauce?" she asked, setting out plastic containers on the table. Nepeta nodded, and didn't bother waiting for a plate, but began to ravenously devour pretty much everything that was put before her.

Aradia poured herself a glass of milk, got a cookie, and sat across the table from her guest, politely munching. Nepeta didn't even notice she was under scrutiny until after she'd polished off half the contents of Aradia's fridge.

"Um, sorry," she said. Aradia laughed.

"No problem, Nepeta. I don't mind in the slightest," she said graciously. "Have you finished?"

"No."

"Take your time."

"Thank you," said Nepeta.

"When you're done, I suppose you'll want to go to sleep right away?" Aradia inquired politely.

"No, I'd like a bath, purrlease," Nepeta said, even though she was exhausted. But like Pounce had, she liked to stay neat.

"Okay. I'll wash your clothing, then," Aradia offered.

"I have more in my sylladex," Nepeta said. Clothing was practically the only thing they'd let her keep. Dead girls don't need material possessions, but no one else wanted a shirt with the wrong sign on it.

The rest of the night was a blur. After her promised bath, Aradia bandaged Nepeta's wrist and her ankle, which had caught on the edge of the fire escape when she fell. Then Nepeta was led to a spare room, where she practically fell into the recuperacoon, and slept.

 

♦♦♦

 

Aradia did not immediately retreat to her room. Instead, she went to her computer and messaged her moirail, Sollux Captor.

AA: Hey, Sollux!  
TA: hey, AA. what2 up?  
AA: Equius found another stray.  
TA: what ii2 wrong wiith people? why dont they have the 2en2e to 2tay out of the 2iity?  
AA: This one hasn't got a lusus, and Gamzee is after her.  
TA: oh, for gog2 2ake.  
AA: Please, Sollux.  
TA: ii told hiim the la2t one wa2 iit!  
TA: do you know the favour2 ii had to pull to get eriidan to take her?  
AA: You can't give this one to Eridan. She's a fighter.  
TA: even wor2e!  
AA: So you don't think you can help me? I wonder if we can go to Terezi.  
TA: waiit a miinute there AA. ii never 2aiid that.  
TA: of course iill try, iidiiot.  
TA: what2 her name?  
AA: Coat says Nepeta Leijon.  
TA: hold on...  
TA: accordiing to the polii2e records, 2he had a purrbea2t lu2u2 and 2he2 not under 2erveiilance for anything.  
TA: waiit...  
AA: What is it?  
TA: oh no.  
TA: "as a person of iintere2t to the criimiinal gamzee makara (priioriity: purple) 2he ii2 al2o a per2on of iintere2t to her empiiriious condensciion... although leiijon2 current whereabouts are unknown, iif iit ii2 po22iible to catch her she may 'come iin handy.'(priioriity: iindiigo.)"  
AA: Purple? Wow, they must really want Gamzee. I wonder what he did this time.  
TA: iim 2orry, AA, but ii can't help you untiil that goe2 down to at lea2t yellow.  
TA: you know ii cant blow my cover agaiin after abiiliie.  
AA: I understand.  
AA: Can you at least get her some kind of protection? Equius can't be everywhere. He told me he only found her by chance in the first place.  
TA: ii dont know, but iill do my best.  
AA: Thanks.  
TA: 2ure.  
AA: ♦  
TA: ♦  
AA: Bye!  
TA: bye.


	3. Bored in Boredom

When Nepeta woke up the next morning, the comfort and contentment she felt was so alien to the nightmare that had been the past week that she was afraid before she remembered where she was and what had happened. Basking in the warmth of the sun coming through the window, it was hard for her to remember that she still didn't really know what was going on. She felt safe.

Aradia sure didn't seem dangerous. That Equius guy did, but she didn't think he meant her any harm. Her fur had been all ruffled yesterday from fear and stress, but no more. She decided that if she saw him again she would thank him.

Thus resolved, she got dressed and went downstairs. Aradia was at the kitchen table, sipping from a mug of tea and taking notes on a pad of lined paper.

"Morning," Aradia said. "You hungry?"

"Good morning," Nepeta said. "Yes, I am actually."

"Oh good, because I made toast for you. Do you like tea?" Aradia asked.

"Not really, thanks."

"Alright."

Nepeta sat down with her plate of toasted grubloaf and examined the hostess and her kitchen again. She was dressed this morning in a knee-length shirt and tall white and red striped socks. Her hive was small and not very neat, but it was clean. Nepeta was just wondering where Aradia's lusus was when the doorbell rang.

"That'll be Equius," Aradia said. "You just keep eating, and I'll be right back in a minute."

"Okay," Nepeta said obediently.

Aradia and Equius had a quick, quiet conversation in the hall. Nepeta didn't catch much of what they said, but she had a feeling they were talking about her. They re-entered the kitchen, holding hands.

"Thank you fur rescuing me, Equius," Nepeta said. He cracked a small smile, revealing a mouthful of broken teeth.

"It was my pleasure, Nepeta. I trust you are quite recovered from yesterday's exertions?"

"Yes, I am. Aradia was furry nice to me."

Aradia laughed. "I'm glad you think so," she said. "You're the third person we've had to rescue from Gamzee, so I think my hostessing skills must be improving."

"If I ever get my hands on that miserable Makara..." Equius muttered.

"The other two were better off than you, because neither of them were homeless, just lost," Aradia continued.

"Well, I might be homeless again soon, because I can't say here forever," Nepeta said.

"Yes, that leads to something we have to figure out now," Aradia said.

"What?" Nepeta said, slightly suspicious.

"Where you're going to live now, of course. We're not going to turn you back out onto the street," Aradia said.

"I can look out for myself, you know. I just need some money," Nepeta said. This was a lie, of course. She needed to have permission from the government to live lusus-less and get another hive. But she had always loved her privacy, or at least the privacy she could get when living in a hive that always seemed to be full of cat. She also didn't want to burden these kind new friends of hers. Everyone knows that cats are loners, and Nepeta was no exception.

"You look like you are around 6 sweeps old. I think there are a lot of trolls out there who wouldn't hesitate to try and hurt you," Aradia said.

"I'm seven and a half," Nepeta said nonchalantly, unsheathing her claws. Aradia and Equius glanced at each other.

"Gamzee may still be looking for you, you know," Aradia said as Nepeta put her claws away.

"Correction: He is still looking for you," Equius said. "You may not leave this house until it is safe to do so. I did not save you just to have you kidnapped by Gamzee or some other fool." He thumped his fist on the counter, which shuddered.

"Fiddlesticks," he said.

"It's okay, no damage," Aradia said quickly.

"Well..." Nepeta began. Her first instinct was to argue. Did Equius always have to say everything so belligerently? But when you went past the tone of voice... he seemed to care about her. She wondered why he was so angry. "I don't have anywhere else to go, it's true. But I don't want to bother you, and I get bored easily, so I need a job or something."

Aradia looked relieved that Nepeta had given in. Equius looked the same as normal, which was stony and forbidding, but perhaps Nepeta saw the muscles in his face slacken a little?

"Would you count keeping house for me, at least until we can find you something else to do outside?" Aradia said. "This place hasn't been clean since my lusus died."

"Wait, your lusus is gone, too?" Nepeta said. "How are you not on the street right now?"

"I have a moirail with friends in high places. I'm hoping we can get something worked out for you, too, but we can't yet, not until – well, the government isn't being very forgiving right now. Anyway, this isn't nearly as nice a neighbourhood as my old one, but it's relatively safe, as long as I keep my door locked," Aradia said.

"Okay," Nepeta said. "I'll stay. But I warn you, I like to draw on things and I get bored easily."

"Got it," Aradia said, smiling. "I have a lot of drawing paper in the sitting room," she added.

"Thank you," Nepeta said. "You know, sooner or later, you're going to have to tell me why Gamzee wants me, who he is, and what he will do to me if he catches me."

"You're too young to know about that," Equius said.

"She's seven, same as us," Aradia said, rolling her eyes. "He's –"

"No," Equius interrupted, starting to sweat. He and Aradia scowled at each other for a moment.

"I won't go into detail, calm down," Aradia said. Equius sighed and pulled a towel out of his sylladex. Nepeta wrinkled her nose.

"Ahem, anyway. Gamzee is a drug lord, basically," Aradia said.

"And what has that got to do with me?" Nepeta said.

"He tends to acquire temporary kismesis by force," Aradia said flatly.

"Temporary?" Nepeta said.

"He never takes an auspistice."

Nepeta was all of a sudden very grateful that she hadn't refused to go with Equius back there in the alley.

"Why has no one stopped him yet?" Nepeta said.

"Because he's a bloody juggalo, that's why," Equius said.

Nepeta shivered.

 

♦♦♦

 

Her fear and her willpower lasted about a week. She went outside as little as possible, and instead stayed in and tidied the hive and drew and borrowed Aradia's hubtop. By the end of the week she was so sick of being indoors that she was about ready to smash all the windows out of frustration. She wanted to go back to the park, but of course it was bordered on one side by neighbourhoods that Gamzee's goons frequented.

Aradia said she would talk to Equius about it, but Nepeta doubted he would let her go either. Over the week she had come to like him, in spite of his strangeness. She didn't always agree with his mandates, but she usually didn't argue. She did owe him, after all.

After another half week more she forgot even that. She couldn't take it anymore. When Aradia went to work, she simply walked out the front door.

And remembered that she had never been in Aradia's neighbourhood before, except for the night Equius had brought her there. And then the door locked behind her.

Feeling foolish, Nepeta stood on the porch for a few moments, wondering if she'd just have to sit here for the rest of the day until Aradia came home. When a door slammed on the other side of the street, she looked up. A girl in a brightly coloured skirt dashed out of the house, across the street, and up to the pavement in front of Nepeta. Who, with shock, recognized her former friend Feferi Peixies.

Of all the friends Nepeta had given up with she'd left home, Feferi had been one of the most regretted. But she was royalty, of course, so she couldn't afford to give Nepeta shelter, and Nepeta understood that. What, then was Feferi doing here?

"Nepeta, get back inside right now," Feferi said urgently.

"I can't. I'm locked out," Nepeta said.

"Gog damnit," Feferi said, unusually profane.

"What is it?" Nepeta said, confused.

"The drones are looking for you! And Aranea – that's whose house I was in right now – she's a stickler for the rules. She'll report you as soon as she sees you! You need to get out of sight right – oh –"

Feferi saw Nepeta's expression as she watched the house door open. A blue-blood with red shoes and cats-eye glasses came out.

"Run," Feferi said, "Run away and don't come back here. Don't go to your hive. If you go half a mile that way –" she pointed "– Eridan Ampora has a nightclub and I hear he's sympathetic to lusus-less trolls. Go."

"Thanks," Nepeta said. "Can you tell Aradia –"

"Who?"

"The girl whose hive this is."

"Yes, yes, I'll tell her what happened, now go!" Feferi said.

Nepeta ran off in the direction her friend had pointed too. Feferi watched her. And Aranea went back into the house to make a phone call.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feferi and Aranea cameo! Eridan mention!!


	4. Captured at the Cosed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning in this chapter for sexual assault and violence!

_Half a mile thattaway, huh?_ Nepeta thought disgustedly. She'd been running for fifteen minutes but had seen no sign of this club Feferi had been talking about. She was beginning to get out of breath, but she didn't want to stop until she had found a safe place to retreat too. If Feferi was right and the drones really were looking for her...

She didn't want to think about it.

She still didn't know where she was, where she was going, or where she was safe, if such a place existed. The only thing she could think of to do was keep running.

Houses and stores passed in a blur of rasping breath and heaving lungs and pounding heart. Not a single landmark looked familiar too her; not a single person did she recognize. A stitch in her side was growing unbearable, but she did not stop until –

_Oh, no._

It was the "cosed" convenience store, the one that someone had been watching her from. Yes, there was the corner with the million chewing-gum splats, and there was the upside-down street sign. She had run from the drones just to find herself back on gang territory.

If she hadn't been so out of breath, Nepeta might have yowled aloud. She couldn't go back the way she'd come, and she didn't remember which direction she had come from or gone too when she'd gotten herself lost last time. There were three roads she could take to leave, and at least one of them was extremely dangerous.

Every moment she waited there could be a moment her enemies, of one kind or another, could use to catch up with her.

The door of the convenience store opened, and a troll came out. The first thing Nepeta noticed about him was that he was cute, in an angry sort of way. The second thing she noticed was that the symbol on his chest was not blood-coloured, but grey. He was scowling straight at her, and she tensed, preparing to start running again.

"Hey, cat girl! Get your ass over here before somebody sees you!" he said.

"Who are you?" Nepeta said suspiciously.

"Someone who hates that asshole Gamzee Makara, so come on!"

Nepeta hesitated for a moment, but this troll seemed to be her own age, and not much of a threat, in spite of his antagonistic demeanour. What other option did she really have? 

_Should I trust him, Pounce?_

Nepeta crossed the street and the troll ushered her into the store.

It was just a small place, but well stocked. Dim and dusty, but neat and otherwise clean. The angry troll was the only one in there, so he must have been in charge. He went back behind the counter and beckoned for her to come too.

"Sit," he said, pointing to the ground as he sat on the stool that looked as if it were stationed there permanently.

"What's your name?" said Nepeta.

"Karkat."

He went through the pockets of a jacket draped over a shelf and found a cell phone, which he passed over to her.

Luckily, Nepeta did have Equius and Aradia's phone numbers, because Aradia had given them to her, just in case. _It would have been very bad if she hadn't, Nepeta thought as she dialed the number._

Equius picked up. "Hello?"

"Hi, it's Nepeta," she said. "I had to run away from Aradia's house because of this troll Aranea, and now I'm in a convenience store somewhere near the place where you found me before."

"Are you injured?" Equius said.

"No, I'm fine, but the drones are looking for me," Nepeta said.

"Very well. What is the address of this store, and who is with you?"

"I'm with this troll called Karkat, and I don't know what the address is. Hold on, I'll ask him."

Nepeta handed the phone to Karkat, who put it to his ear and growled, "69 Captious Court."

He handed the phone back to Nepeta. "Did you get it?" she asked.

"Yes I did," Equius said grimly. "You had better stay right there, because you are in grave danger. The drones have come already, and they are watching both Aradia and myself. I am afraid I cannot come fetch you. Fortunately, I know of this Karkat, or we would have a serious dilemma, as he sounds like quite the ruffian. You must ask him to take you to somewhere safe, because my hive is not."

"Where should we go?" Nepeta said. Equius gave her the address for Aradia's moirail Sollux's hive. Great, another troll she didn't know to look after her. Nepeta was tired of scurrying from hive to hive in people's skirts like a criminal, but she also didn't want to die. She relayed the information to Karkat, who rolled his eyes.

"Figures," he said.

"Sorry," said Nepeta.

"It's fine. I'm okay with giving six hours of my precious time to some stupid cat cosplayer," Karkat said.

Nepeta said goodbye to Equius and gave Karkat his phone back. She felt bad for intruding, but what was she supposed to do? She reminded herself that Karkat had been the one to invite her in in the first place. She hoped he wasn't really as annoyed with her as he seemed.

"We can leave at closing time," he said.

"I thought the store was closed," Nepeta said.

"No, the sign's broken, and everyone around here knows it. Now sit down there and don't open your protein chute unless Gamzee himself shows up."

Nepeta nodded and did as he said, expecting the day to be very long and boring. She tried to make herself comfortable on the dusty ground. Karkat let her squirm around for a moment before sighing gustily, getting up, and stomping around the counter. He came back with a sofa cushion and a blanket, which he handed to Nepeta.

"Thanks. Where did you get these from?" she said.

Karkat hopped back onto the stool. "I sleep in the back sometimes," he admitted.

"Why?" Nepeta said curiously.

"Because this neighbourhood is dangerous, why do you think?" Karkat said. "I don't know what fucking kind of sugar-coated place you come from, but this one's about as sweet as a horrorterror's diarrhoea."

"Nice metafur," Nepeta said.

"Gog help us, it does cat puns," Karkat said.

Nepeta laughed. "They're so much fun," she explained. Karkat face-palmed, and Nepeta caught sight of the odd symbol on his shirt again as he re-crossed his arms.

"By the way," Nepeta said, "Would you mind telling me why your sign is grey?"

Karkat scowled harder, if that was possible. "Because my blood is my business and no one else's," he said ferociously. "And I thought I told you not to talk, fuckass."

Nepeta shut her mouth and sat back against the pillow. She fidgeted through the rest of the morning. A few customers came in and asked for things like cigarettes and fifty-cent packs of chewing gum.

"That's the only thing they ever want," Karkat said disgustedly.

Silence reigned until Karkat asked Nepeta if she was hungry, which she was. Apparently there was a fridge in the back, too, because Karkat had a sandwich, which they shared. Karkat had calmed down by then, because he asked Nepeta, "So, why do I have the extreme displeasure of your company right now anyway?"

Nepeta told him the whole story, starting with losing Pounce. When she was done he said, "Gogdamn drones. Gogdamn Gamzee. I hate both those bastards."

"What did Gamzee do to you?" Nepeta said, since his reluctance to talk about his blood spoke for itself on the subject of the drones.

"Not him, exactly. He has this bitch on a leash called Vriska, and she runs rings around the drones," Karkat said.

"And no one can do anything about her?" Nepeta said.

"The trouble is she's on our side too, when it suits her, the traitorous bitch. Usually it's right before we find out something clever she did, like the time she murdered Terezi Pyrope." Karkat's expression twisted into hatred.

"I'm sorry, was that someone impawtant to you?" Nepeta said.

"Friend." Karkat hesitated for a moment. "They couldn't prove anything, as usual. She has the world's most versatile weapon. Shit's impossible to track."

Nepeta was about to reply when the door opened. Both of them froze. Karkat shut his mouth, and Nepeta ducked behind the counter.

Karkat drew breath. "Mother of gog. It's Gamzee."

Nepeta's stomach dropped as if the ground had been yanked out from under her.

"He's got a friend, too," Karkat muttered. With one arm, he shoved her forcibly under the counter as if she were a crate. He kicked the cushion into a corner and picked the blanket up for himself; to the man walking into the store it looked as if he were alone.

"Hey, Gamzee, what do you want?" Karkat said, doing his best to be polite. If the situation weren't so tense, Nepeta would have laughed that his idea of pleasing the customer was demanding what he wanted. She could almost hear the "the hell" sandwiched between "what" and "do."

"You know what I motherfucking want, bro. One cute little kitty-cat, size... large," Gamzee said. His voice fluctuated from loud to soft almost imperceptibly. Nepeta didn't know why, but it sent chills down her spine.

Oh, and there was the thing where he'd just described her like an object to be purchased.

"Sorry, this isn't a fuc – sorry, this isn't a pet store. I don't know what the hell you're talking about," Karkat said.

"A motherfucking friend of mine said he heard you up and got a fine feline catch somewhere in this miraculous store of yours. My friends don't lie to me, bro," Gamzee said. Nepeta froze.

"She's not here, you idiot," Karkat said, dropping all pretensions of innocence.

"Where did she motherfucking go, I wonder, hm?" Gamzee said.

"I don't know."

"Like he thinks we'll believe him," Gamzee's friend said, and Nepeta recognized his voice as that of the troll who Equius had knocked out back in the ally. Apparently he wasn't any the worse for wear, and probably all the angrier for it, too.

Gamzee walked around the countertop and stopped in front of Karkat. Nepeta saw purple shoes right in front of her. Before she even thought of cutting the tendons behind his knees, he was holding a switch-blade to Karkat's throat.

Ignoring the explosion of expletives this prompted, Gamzee hauled his captive out in front of the counter.

"Okay, bro, where is she?" Gamzee said, sounding almost bored.

"Fuck you."

"That's why I'm trying to motherfucking find her," Gamzee said. "Unless you want to do it?"

"I don't know where she is! How many times do I have to tell you clowns?" Karkat said.

Nepeta waited with bated breath for his Gamzee's reply. There was a yelp, and Karkat said in a strangled voice, "Careful with that knife."

Nepeta remembered the grey symbol on Karkat's chest and had an awful thought. He obviously wanted his blood colour to be a secret. A secret which Gamzee could make very, horribly un-secret with one flip of his fingers.

Which secret would Karkat rather keep – the one he'd been keeping all his life, or the secret that could save the life of a stranger?

She was going to bet it was his own he'd be keeping.

She would have to save both of them herself. And that meant keeping the element of surprise, because if Karkat didn't hold out for one more minute, Gamzee was about to find out she was not more than ten feet away from him.

"I am so motherfucking careful you would not believe it. As that cat girl is soon to find out," Gamzee smirked.

Nepeta peered over the counter and took stock of the situation. Gamzee was holding Karkat's arms behind his back with one hand ( _he must be very strong, oh dear._ ) and a knife to Karkat's waist with the other. As Nepeta had guessed, the brown-blood Tavros was there too, leaning against a shelving unit.

Karkat saw Nepeta's horns peeking over the counter and he shook his head, but Nepeta ignored him. She scrambled on top of the counter, and before Gamzee could react, leaped through the air, straight at his head.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaawr!" she growled, the battle cry of a lion. Gamzee moved faster than she would have thought possible, shoving Karkat away from him just before she slammed into him.

"No!" Karkat said.

Nepeta's claws missed Gamzee's face my millimetres. He grabbed one of her wrists, and she yelled in pain as he twisted it to an odd angle. It was the same wrist that Equius had bruised the week before, and it hurt like fire as she yanked her arm free. Gamzee stabbed down towards her stomach, grazing her hip as she leapt out of the way. Now she was on the defensive, holding her claws up in front of her face as best she could. She bit her lip against the burning in her left arm as Gamzee drove her back towards the counter. Just as he was about to have her cornered, she dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way. She swiped at his ankles as she passed and heard him howl.

Leaping to her feet, she became dimly aware that Karkat and Tavros were also fighting. But Gamzee had turned to face her again, and she had to duck because he was trying to stab her eyes out. She in turn saw an opening and slashed her claws diagonally down across his face.

He took her hand and shoved it away, but not before she had scored three lines down his face. It took her a moment to register that he was grinning.

Nepeta felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured down her collar. She was fighting for her life, and this sick, twisted fiend was enjoying it.

In her shock, she hesitated a moment, and Gamzee was on her. He fastened one hand firmly around her throat and brought the one with the knife up right below her eye. She didn't have enough breath to scream when he ripped her cheek open.

"What a beginning to our motherfucking relationship," Gamzee panted.

Nepeta's air-starved, pain ridden brain told her that she needed to breathe. She lashed out with her claws, but moving without oxygen was like being underwater, and Gamzee ignored her clumsy blows. Spots were beginning to cover her vision, and she only dimly registered that Gamzee had put his hand up her shirt.

 _I can't die_ , she thought dully. _Pounce wouldn't want me to..._

With all her remaining strength, she brought her knee up as hard as she could. It connected with Gamzee's stomach and he gasped, winded. As he relaxed his grip for just a second, Nepeta slammed her elbow into his face, missing his nose, but forcing him to release her. Sweet air rushed into her throat and they staggered apart. Two precious seconds ticked by before she could get back on her feet. Lungs still heaving, Nepeta put her claws through Gamzee's stomach.

"Motherfucker," he said, then gagged and coughed up a mixture of blood and bile. Nepeta jumped aside as Gamzee dropped to his knees. Blood began to pour out of his middle, splattering the floor with purple.

For good measure, Nepeta gored him through the heart.

As she yanked her claws out a second time, he fell face forward to the ground and was still.

Nepeta stared at the corpse, frozen, still struggling to get her breath back. Her wrist, cheek, and throat were throbbing, and she could still feel the oily slip of Gamzee's fingers over her stomach. But all of these were very far away compared with the bright purple blood that coated half of her claws.

Karkat came up behind her, but she did not notice, nor hear when he said her name. He tapped her on the shoulder, and she jumped, whirling around to attack. Karkat put his hands up and staggered backwards, almost falling over a set of shelves.

"Holy crap!" he said.

"Oh, it's you," Nepeta said flatly. "Sorry."

"Is he dead?" Karkat said, pointing to Gamzee, too shaken to make a retort. Nepeta nodded.

"You fucking killed Gamzee Makara," Karkat said, carefully extricating himself from the shelves. "I can't believe it."

"Neither can I," Nepeta said.

"Tavros just ran away," Karkat said, as if that were important. "Uh, are you okay?"

"I'm not dead," Nepeta said in a small voice.

Karkat looked at her worriedly, unsure of what to do. He cautiously came forward and put his hand on her shoulder again. Nepeta saw in his face uncertainty and concern, and realised she must look awful. She felt awful, so no surprise.

She hesitated for a moment, then hugged him. Startled, he didn't do anything at first, then mechanically brought his arms up around her. When she felt them tighten around her shoulders, she couldn't help herself; she began to cry quietly, probably from the shock. She had just killed someone, after all.

Karkat stood there and hugged her for long minutes while her shoulders shook and she tried to get herself under control again.

"Oh, shit," Karkat said.

"What is it?" Nepeta said. She let go of him and looked around, expecting Tavros to have returned with Vriska or Gamzee to have returned from the grave or something. She couldn't see anything wrong. As she wiped away her own tears, she saw Karkat shove his own hand behind his back.

"My hand is bleeding," Karkat said grimly. Nepeta rolled her eyes and pointed at Gamzee. Karkat glanced down at his shirt as if to check that his symbol was still grey, and then gave Nepeta a look that said, _Are you stupid_?

Somebody knocked on the door, and both of them jumped. Karkat looked as if he'd just heard someone order his execution.

Nepeta grabbed a spare pair of gloves from her sylladex and tossed them to him. He caught them with one hand (which was pretty impressive) and pulled them on as Nepeta went to open the door.

"Thanks," Karkat said grudgingly.

Nepeta didn't reply. Standing in the doorway was a highblood accompanied by four police drones.


	5. Rescued all Right

_Why this? Why now?_

All Nepeta wanted to do was clean the blood off her claws and go home. If not home to Pounce, at least home to Aradia. If not home to Aradia, home to Equius or Karkat. Anything but "home" to a jail cell.

She stood aside as the highblood came into the store. He ordered the drones to flank Nepeta and Karkat. When one of them grabbed her injured wrist, she yelped in pain.

"Hey, let go of her! Gamzee hurt her, you idiot!" Karkat snapped.

"That's enough out of you," the highblood said, but the drone moved its grip to Nepeta's upper arm instead.

"I am Cassel Malone, and I've been put in charge of the Gamzee Makara/Nepeta Leijon investigation. Who are you?" the highblood asked Karkat.

"I'm Karkat Vantas, registered greenblood. I work here, and that's registered too," Karkat said.

"I'm not here to collect licenses. Where's Makara?" Cassel said.

"Dead, back there," Nepeta said, raising her half-free arm to point.

"Oh? Who killed him?" Cassel said, moving to examine the body.

"I did," Nepeta said defiantly, raising her claws.

"Did you kill him in self-defense?"

"Of course I did," Nepeta said, just as Karkat said angrily, "Of course she did!"

"Yes, yes, very good," Cassel said. He beckoned one drone away from each troll to pick up the purple-spangled corpse.

"Mr. Zahhak, you can come in," he called out the door. Equius entered the shop, and Nepeta had never been happier to see anyone in her entire life. She would have run to him if that drone were not still gripping her arm.

"I'm going to release you into the custody of Mr. Zahhak," Cassel said. "We can't take you out of our database because you don't have a lusus, but in thanks for killing Gamzee we'll make a note that you get special treatment if we ever have to arrest you for something." He waved the drone away from Nepeta, but not from Karkat. Nepeta ran to Equius and hugged him. He picked her up and held her for a moment as Cassel looked at Karkat suspiciously.

"I suppose I will have to let you go, too," he said. All the drones stationed themselves by the front door, including the two carrying Gamzee. The highblood turned back to Nepeta and Equius.

"Will you move her alert level down?" Equius said.

The highblood considered it.

"Protocol says you do," Equius added.

"Confirmed," all four drones said at the same time. Nepeta was startled at their deep, digitized voices. Cassel raised his eyebrows at Equius.

After a moment, understanding flickered across his face, and he said, "I work with robots and some electronics, and I can do prosthetics."

Cassel's eyes widened. "Well then. One level down for each limb."

"Two levels per major joint," Equius said. "My work is high quality."

"Two levels per limb."

"Deal," Equius said. They shook on it, and without further adieu the highblood and the drones departed.

And that was justice on Alternia.

 

♦♦♦

 

"Let's get you out of here," Equius said to Nepeta. "What possessed you to leave the house, you foolish girl?"

"I was bored," Nepeta said.

"Hey, don't you yell at her! It's not her fucking fault that that psycho wanted to kill her," Karkat said. Equius gave him a look over the tops of his glasses that said he had about as much use for Karkat as a dead badger.

"Don't fight, please," Nepeta said. "I just want to get out of here, sorry Karkat."

"Sorry? What the hell are you sorry for?" he said incredulously.

"Sorry I made such a mess of your store," said Nepeta.

"That's not your fault," Equius said.

"I was just about to say that," Karkat said angrily.

"Please, can we just get out of here?" Nepeta said, a little desperately. She was still in pain and in shock, and now both of her rescuers were fighting. This was not good.

"Of course," Equius said. He scooped her up and they left the store, leaving purple blood, spilled boxes, and Karkat behind them.

 

♦♦♦

 

Equius took her to the nearest hospital so she could have her wrist and her cheek seen too. The wrist was strained, and had to be put in a splint; her cheek required four stitches. Her windpipe was bruised, but not seriously damaged. As for her stomach, it was fine too, although she was glad to take a shower and change clothes when she finally got back to Aradia's hive.

She ate dinner and then went to bed, exhausted. What a day. But she was safe now.

Next morning, she woke up to discover that once again Aradia had put everything she owned in the laundry and then returned it to her chair. Her claws were silver once again, rather than purple, and she rather preferred it that way. As she hopped out of the recuperacoon, her arm twinged a little, and she realised what an inconvenience it was going to be to be wrapped up in the split for a week or so. Oh well, she was alive, and that was the important part.

Downstairs in the kitchen, she found Aradia and a yellow-blood she didn't know, laughing together. She supposed this was Sollux, Aradia's moirail.

"Hi there," Aradia said. "Glad you're up. Help yourself to some breakfast, you know where everything is. Oh – unless you need some help with that wrist of yours, of course."

"I'm fine, thank you," Nepeta said, taking a clean bowl out of the cupboard. "Mind telling me what happened to Karkat and where Equius went?"

"Karkat is fine. Equius helped him clean up the store because you couldn't, and then he went home. I think he's back at the store today, so you can go visit him if you like," said Aradia.

Equius had helped Karkat clean up? Wow, she hadn't expected that to have happened. Aradia had said he'd done it for her, Nepeta, too. Huh.

And visit him? Absolutely; she'd never thanked him. She felt happy as she remembered that now she could leave the house if she wanted to.

"I don't actually know how to get to the store," Nepeta admitted. "And where's Equius now?"

"He's putting robotic limbs on soldiers. He must be doing well, because your alert level is down to rust. That means no one is looking for you anymore."

Here Sollux interrupted. "II got Eriidan two pull 2ome 2triing2, and you are now 2ertiifiied two eiither liive wiithout a lu2u2, or get your2elf a new one. And you qualiify for your own hiive agaiin."

"Really? That's pawesome! Oh, thank you!" Nepeta said.

"IIt wa2 really pretty 2iimple 2iin2e you had no alert," Sollux said modestly. "Although II hate two 2ay thii2, iit'2 that a22hole Equiius you 2hould be thankiing."

"Believe me, I will. But I appreciate what you did for me, too," Nepeta said. "And you, Aradia, for the room and the food."

"My hive has never been cleaner," Aradia said wryly.

♦♦♦


	6. Free to Stay

Nepeta went back to Karkat's store that very afternoon. Aradia dropped her off and told her to give a call when she wanted to leave.

There was a "closed for repairs, come back Tuesday," sign on the door, but it was unlocked as usual. When Nepeta went in, Karkat was taping up the edge of the counter with silver duct tape. The floor shone clean where Gamzee had fallen, the gleaming linoleum at odds with its still-dusty environs.

Karkat heard the bell to the door of the shop ring and spun around angrily. Seeing it was Nepeta he said, "Oh, it's you."

"Hi," Nepeta said. "Do you mind if I come in? I'll help you fix things up, if you like."

"I think not," Karkat scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Um, okay?" Nepeta said, taken aback. She felt hurt, for some ridiculous and unapparent reason. Why should some random stranger, albeit an adorably angry stranger, who had happened to let her sit behind his counter, want to talk to her? Arguably she had saved his life, or at least his secret, by jumping on Gamzee and then lending him her glove, but she guessed he probably didn't want to think that way. He didn't seem the type to want to have debts to pay back.

Oh well. She turned to leave, and Karkat said, "Aw, fuck! Wait, shit, what I meant is that you're not going to help me tape up the counter, not that you can't stay."

Nepeta laughed, relieved. "Thanks, Karcat."

"You can come sit here," he said, gesturing to the stool he had been sitting on yesterday. It was now set out in front of the counter instead of behind it.

"You sure you don't want me to help with anything?" Nepeta said.

"No, you'll only break something," said Karkat. "My crappy furniture doesn't need your help, thanks." But Nepeta rather thought it might be because he wanted to be a good host. So she sat down on the stool without saying anything more.

"So, uh, are you okay and everything?" Karkat said.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Nepeta said. "Thanks to you and Equius and Aradia and Sollux."

"I didn't do anything," Karkat said bluntly, not looking up from the corner of the counter he was smoothing over.

"Sure you did, you let me stay here," Nepeta said, smoothing out the hem of her coat.

"Gamzee found you anyway."

"It doesn't matter. The impawtant part is that you helped me and I'm okay, so don't worry about it," Nepeta said kindly.

"Whatever makes you happy, cat girl," Karkat said. The counter done, he stood up and deposited the roll of tape on top of it.

"Why thank you," Nepeta said, grinning mischievously. "I might take you up on that some day."

"Don't you understand sarcasm?" Karkat grumbled, sitting down on the edge of the counter. "Never mind, don't answer that. I don't want to know how the brain in that sickeningly cute face of your works. Lucky me to invite in the one girl in the city who thinks she's a cat."

Nepeta registered that he had called her cute, even if it was a joke. Before she could reply, Karkat said, "Oh, speaking of which, here are your gloves. I cleaned the blood off of them for you."

He handed them back to her and she put them into her sylladex.

"Is your hand okay?" she asked. Karkat held it up to show her. His palm and wrist were neatly wrapped in a bandage, but his fingers were free.

Nepeta took Karkat's wrist, and he flinched. She looked at him, but he showed no other indications of discomfort, just half shrugged and let his fingers uncurl in her palm.

"Did he cut you or what?" she said, inspecting his fingers. They were a little on the thin side, just longer than hers were, and a nice smooth shade of light grey. He didn't bite his nails. The wound must not have been that painful, because he was able to flex them with no discomfort.

"I don't even fucking know," Karkat said disgustedly. "One moment I think I'm free of that bastard, and the next my hand is dripping all over the back of your ridiculous coat."

Over the back of her coat? Yesterday Nepeta had vaguely noted a stain on the back of the coat – a red stain – and hadn't thought anything of it because she hadn't been thinking at all.

That hadn't been regular rust blood, either.

Nepeta completely understood.

"I didn't see anything," she said, smiling sweetly. "Just purrple."

"That's great, that's real fucking great," said Karkat.

"Hmm," Nepeta said, ignoring the troll's sour tone.

"What?"

Grinning mischievously, Nepeta said, "This little kitten went to market, this little kitten stayed at home –"

Karkat yanked his hand away, almost pulling her off the stool. She grabbed the edge of the counter and laughed and laughed at his expression of mixed surprise, anger, disgust, and was there some amusement in there? 

"I am never letting you in my fucking store ever again," Karkat said.

"What happened to 'whatefur makes you happy?'" said Nepeta, making big sad kitten eyes at him.

"That was sarcasm, okay, I already –" Karkat caught sight of her expression and exclaimed, "Fuck, I didn't mean that, okay! You can come back! Gog, that was a joke, what are you –"

That last was because Nepeta had hopped off the stool and was hugging him. He sat there rigidly for a moment before giving up and grudgingly bringing his arms up to hug her in return.

"I don't even understand," he moaned. "What did I do to deserve this?"

"Something pawful, undoubtedly," Nepeta said, taking up her seat on the stool again.

"Whatever it was, I already regretted it six times over," Karkat mumbled, crossing his arms. Nepeta peered at him for a moment, wide eyed.

He looked up at her and said, "What the hell are you looking at? What?" Nepeta grinned.

"Let's change the fucking subject, already!" Karkat said loudly as she started laughing again. She couldn't help it; his grumpiness was adorable.

"Okay, okay, okay," she said quickly. He looked like he was about to throw something.

"Back to a normal conversation that normal people have in normal places when both of them didn't almost get killed by an insane clown gangster," Karkat said. "Speaking of which, what are you going to do now? I heard you don't have a hive."

"Well, Aradia said I can stay with her for as long as I like, but I don't like," Nepeta said. "I want to be on my own again. I don't want to leave the city, because I have allies here now, so why should I? I doubt they want me to go, too. Equius especially needs someone to keep an eye on him."

"That asshole doesn't need anyone," Karkat said.

"Everybody needs somebody, so you shush." Nepeta poked him in shoulder, which he ignored.

"Are you going to get your old hive back?" Karkat asked.

"No, somebody else moved in already, and it's a teal-blood, so I don't have the right to kick him out," Nepeta sighed.

"Uh… so what are you going to do?"

"I don't know," Nepeta admitted.

"I guess… well, I doubt you want it, but there's always the room in the back of this store," Karkat said. Nepeta started to open her mouth.

"Just until you find somewhere more permanent," he added quickly.

Nepeta thought about it for a moment.

"Don't you sleep there?" she said, confused.

"No, I have a hive and a lusus, dumbass," Karkat said, rolling his eyes. "I only stay there when it's too dangerous to leave, which it isn't anymore, because Gamzee is dead."

"I get it," Nepeta laughed. "In that case, may I?"

"It's all yours."

"Thanks. I have to go back to Aradia's tonight because she has some of my stuff, but I'll take you up on it," Nepeta said.

"You're really going to stay there?" Karkat said, surprised.

"Yes, why wouldn't I? I just said I wanted it. You aren't going to retract it now, are you?" Nepeta said.

"No, I'm not. But I work here, so you'll have to put up with me," Karkat warned.

"Somehow I think I'll live, Karkitty."

Karkat's reaction to the nickname was to twist his face into an expression of disgust and deliver a string of cursewords.

Nepeta cuffed him on the shoulder. "I think _you're_ going to have to put up with _me_!"

"Gog damn, why does the universe hate me so much?" Karkat said.

Nepeta only grinned.

_Look at me, Pounce, I'm getting better. Do you think I should ask Equius to be my moirail? I think I should. Do you think I should ask Karkat to be my matesprit?_

_I guess we'll see._

_I'm not alone anymore._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the original ending of the story. If you want a resolution, stop here. I am never going to finish the arc that begins in the next (and last) chapter.


	7. Bonus Chapter (In un-conclusion)

Karkat's back room was small, but well stocked. It had a decent-sized recuperacoon, a small fridge/freezer with a toaster oven and a microwave stacked on top of it (that was probably breaking some kind of fire code, but Nepeta wasn't complaining), and a small chest of drawers topped with a bookshelf. There wasn't an inch of wasted space. On the other side of the room was a desk with a lamp on it, even though a bare bulb dangled from the ceiling, and a door, which led to a bathroom. This contained a toilet, sink, mirror, and teeny-tiny shower. There wasn't room to swing a cat in there, that was for sure!

In the interval when Nepeta had been explaining her new situation to Aradia, Equius, and Sollux, Karkat had cleaned most of his things out of this back room, and now the only part of it that still looked used was the bookshelf, which had one out of three shelves filled with comic books. The entire thing was clean and the sopor in the recuperacoon was fresh, which was nice.

Karkat had already given Nepeta the keys to the room and the store, then locked up and gone home. Even though she'd showered that morning, the smell of blood still followed her around, so she had another one. Since she was tired, she hopped into bed immediately after, revelling in having her own space once again. Sure, it was small, but she'd always liked cosy spaces. Equius hadn't wanted her to come here, but she'd lovingly assured him that she would be just fine. And now she was here.

Safe at last.

In a store in a dodgy part of town with a crabby, mutant blooded freak.

****

The next morning, Nepeta was up before Karkat was back. She passed the time by reading some of his comic books and taking yet another shower. She hoped she wasn't running up his water bill.

When he finally showed up, at 8:30, he looked a little tired. Nepeta did not know this, but he had spent the past evening burning bandages from his hand and trying to talk himself out of his crush on her.

He plopped a newspaper on his desk and said, "Thought you might want a look at the classifieds, if you still want a job and all. You made the fifth page by killing Gamzee, although they didn't put your name in. Did you have breakfast?"

"Thanks, and there's breakfast in here?" Nepeta asked, picking up the paper.

"There's a fucking refrigerator in your room. Or do they not have those in the cave you were raised in?" Karkat said.

"That's fur m–" Nepeta began. "Okay, thanks."

Karkat rolled his eyes. "You can use anything in those two rooms just as long as you don't fucking destroy them. If you lay a claw in one of my comic books, I will fucking kill you. Now go eat, stupid."

Nepeta grinned at his scowl and retreated to the back room. There was a grubloaf in the refrigerator, which turned out to be full to bursting. Nepeta wondered if Karkat always kept it like that or if he'd stocked it up just for her.

As she was finishing up, she heard the shop door slam shut. A customer! How mundane. She decided to stay in her room so as not to interrupt Karkat's business. Then she thought she heard the customer leave, so she peeked out of her room. No, another had come in at the same time, a woman with glasses and mismatched horns. Nepeta was about to retreat again when she saw that Karkat looked as if he were about to blow his top.

Interesting! She slid behind the counter, tapping Karkat's ankle so he'd know she was there. He glanced down, glared at her, and then looked up again as the woman approached the counter.

"Heeeeeeeey, Karkaaaaaaaat!" she drawled.

"What do you want, Vriska," Karkat said, trying to keep his cool. Vriska? Had Karkat mentioned her before? The name sounded vaguely familiar.

"Why don't you tell me where your little furry friend is? Oh, and I want a pack of cigarettes, if you please," Vriska said.

"Nepeta is none of your fucking business," Karkat said, but he grabbed a box off the wall behind him anyway.

"What's the matter?" Vriska said with mock sympathy. "All I want is to have a little chat with her, just like I did with that other little friend of yours. What waaaaaaaas her name? Turdzi?"

Karkat plunked the box down on the counter, nearly crushing it with his clenched fist.

"Get out of my store, bitch," he growled.

Vriska rescued her cigarettes and said in a despairing tone of voice, "You know I only smoke lites, Karkat."

"I don't want your business, fuckass, now get out of my store," Karkat said, digging his nails into the counter. Nepeta could see that the skin on his knuckles was practically white. She wanted to bite this Vriska girl.

"Oh Karkat, I wouldn't be putting me off if IIIIIIII were you. You might neeeeeeeed me. Everyone's heard about your little brawl, and some people aren't so happy you deposed our dear departed criminal ruler," Vriska said. Her voice shifted from mildly amused to pure viciousness. "You're going to need some stronger allies than little fluffy." She put her money down on the coutner and the cigarettes into her coat pocket, despite the fact that Karkat had never changed them.

"I'd rather die," Karkat snarled.

Vriska's lips twitched. For a moment, Nepeta thought she would spit. But instead she smiled, a twisted, vicious little smile. "I'll see you in hell, Karcrab," she said. "When you're busy bleeding to death on someone else's spider-covered floor, you can thank your own –"

Nepeta, for the second time in three days, lunged across Karkat's counter and knocked Vriska to the ground.

Vriska squealed in surprise and pain, and scrambled out from under her attacker.

Hissing, "You're not welcome here," Nepeta unsheathed her claws. Vriska clumsily got to her feet and ran for the door.

There, she paused and yelled, "I warned you!" before running for the hills.

There was a moment of silence in the store. Nepeta was panting for breath, and Karkat was still frozen. He blinked. Then he laughed.

"That's the only time I've ever seen spiderbitch lose her cool," he said. "Good job, devilcat."

Nepeta laughed too, sheathing her claws.

"You okay?" Karkat said, putting Vriska's money in the till. "Hey, she left me a tip. Sweet."

"I'm fine," Nepeta said. "I think she was too surprised to do any damage."

"Yeah, me neither. I hate to say this, but I'm glad you were raised by cannibals. I'm going to save today's security tape."

"I wasn't raised by cannibals, I was raised by a cat!" Nepeta protested.

"Whatever."

"Do you think we should worry about Vwhiskers coming back?" Nepeta said.

"Who cares? You can obviously defend yourself," Karkat grumbled. "We don't have to worry about her coming back unless she's paid to kill us."

"She hinted she might be, when she said a lot of people wanted us dead," Nepeta said worriedly.

"Nah, spiderbitch just likes to be a fucking drama queen," Karkat said.

"This store needs a bouncer," Nepeta laughed.

"You do it," Karkat said moodily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally I intended for the previous chapter to be the end. Some people encouraged me to write more, so I wrote this chapter. But it's going to remain a teaser forever, because I don't plan on writing any more of this fic. Thanks for reading, and sorry about the ending. Please feel free to use your imagination to give Nepeta and Karkat further adventures in this universe. :)
> 
> Comments always welcome!


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